Maxwell wind farm breezes back

By Dan MacArthur
North Forty News

Though they claim there will be more openness, Colorado State University and its new wind farm partner are being tight-lipped about their agreement to try to build turbines on the Maxwell Ranch north of Livermore.

The Colorado State University Research Foundation has signed a confidential lease agreement with the San Diego-based Cannon Power Group to design and build the wind farm some 20 miles northwest of Fort Collins near the Wyoming border.

Cannon leased 8,000 acres of the 11,000-acre ranch from CSURF, a private, nonprofit advocacy organization that manages the university's real estate holdings, intellectual property and technology transfer activities. Cannon will be responsible for acquiring the necessary permits.

Neither would discuss terms of the lease.

"It's a long-term lease, but the exact lease terms are confidential," Cannon Power Group president and managing director Gary Hardke said in e-mail responses to questions from the North Forty News.

Bill Farland, vice president for research at CSU, also refused to discuss any specifics of the lease. He would say only that the lease establishes a course of due-diligence for Cannon to thoroughly evaluate the project and address outstanding issues.

"CSU and CSURF will work with Cannon to make some critical decisions over the next nine months regarding project timing and funding," Farland stated in a June 15 press release.

Hardke said that time frame is only a best estimate of how long it will take to completely evaluate key project elements.

"We don't necessarily think we will fully resolve all these issues in that period of time, but we want to gauge the likelihood of finding ultimate solutions," he said.

Similarly, Hardke said he could not estimate when a development proposal would be submitted to Larimer County for review.

"That is currently under study," he said. "We don't have a hard date set yet. We are in the process of talking with various stakeholders, including county representatives, before we decide a permit filing timeline."

"Our goal is to continue momentum," said Farland. "They'll start negotiations with the county immediately."

But Larimer County Senior Planner Rob Helmick said, "No one's talked to us. I have no clue."

The deal with Cannon follows a previous effort that fell apart in November when would-be developer Wind Holding LLC failed to secure financing for the $500 million project.

Farland said the university was disappointed with the way things turned out with Wind Holding, which referred CSURF to Cannon. He pledged much greater collaboration, professionalism and transparency this time.

"Cannon will use its best efforts to be available to and communicate with local stakeholders," Hardke stated. "We want to understand their concerns, as well as to explain what benefits we think the project will bring to the local community, Colorado State University and the state of Colorado."

Hardke said the opportunities for public review and input will be announced soon.

"They're a very experienced group. We're very confident we're going to see things moving much better than with Wind Holding," said Farland. "We've been heartened by our discussions so far. I think this is going to be a very different process."

Farland said there may be changes in the proposal.

"Cannon will make its own independent evaluation of a proposed project layout and scope. So it may or may not be different from the prior approach," said Hardke

Originally, some 100 turbines atop 265-foot towers were proposed on the property bequeathed to CSU by rancher Fred Maxwell. Transmission lines would have conveyed the electricity generated to a substation where it would be available for purchase by utilities.

According to the press release, Cannon has developed, constructed, operated and maintained more than 30 utility-scale wind energy projects globally since 1979. Currently it has over 3,000 megawatts of wind projects and over 1,500 megawatts of utility-scale solar projects in various stages of development in Europe and western North America.

The group most recently completed the Windy Point/Windy Flats project located in rural Klickitat County, Wash. At 500-plus megawatts – enough clean electricity to power more than 250,000 households per year – it is one of the largest wind projects in the United States and represents a total investment of more than $1 billion.

Once touted as the Green Power Project, the Maxwell Ranch wind farm is part of CSU's commitment to greening the campus and providing cutting-edge, clean-energy research opportunities, Farland said.

"Cannon Power Group is committed to working with the university and other stakeholders in Larimer County to design a wind project that will benefit the region, help meet the state's renewable energy goals and support significant research," said Hardke. "Over the coming months, we will look closely at transmission alternatives, power purchase agreements and financing options. We look forward to engaging in discussions with Larimer County government, which ultimately will need to approve this project. We are excited to participate in this unique opportunity."